"The Synth who called himself Paladin Danse has been eliminated."

Haylen curled her hands into fists at the words- using every ounce of self-control to keep her body from shaking. She kept her eyes locked on the ground in front of her- afraid that if she looked up and so much as saw Maxson forming those spiteful words... she would lose it.

She was afraid that she would give into an ugly outburst right here on the Prydwen.

That she would tell Maxson that he really was the piece of shit she always thought he'd been.

Focus on your breathing, Haylen, she thought to herself, trying not to make the sharp breaths being sucked through gritted teeth sound so loud, don't let them find out.

"His body, and all records of him, have been incinerated."

The soldiers around her gave out quiet, sickening cheers, and Haylen inadvertently felt her eyes being drawn up to Maxson. She wondered if he might've had some kind of shit grin on his face at everyone's praise.

Instead, her eyes widened and her breath hitched in her throat as she saw Danse's holotags dangling from the Elder's raised fist.

And any sense of hope she might've had quickly turned into rocks in her stomach- causing it to clench and threaten to up heave everything she had eaten for breakfast hours before.

"He had to be an example, not an exception- remember this when we make war with the Institute. Remember that he was an infiltrator- a spy, and our enemy. And we will not be caught off-guard again."

If she hadn't been wearing gloves, Haylen was certain that her nails would've cut into the skin of her palms by now.

Despite her best effort, she could feel the tremors running through her body- Hell, she could almost hear her teeth chattering together as she tried to keep her jaw locked tight.

... How could he?

After everything Danse had done for the Brotherhood, for Elder Maxson, how could they just... treat him like this? Treat him like garbage that had to be tossed out- that had to be incinerated.

"As it stands, we now have an opening in our ranks. One that needs to be filled before we can take on the Institute, as we cannot take them on without having an united front."

How long could Maxson talk for?

His speeches tended to be long-winded and never-ending to begin with, but this... this was getting sickening. What else was there left to say? Was he going to hold some kind of sick competition for the open rank of Paladin? Was he using this disgusting opportunity to garner support and see who out of the army before him was truly willing to do whatever it was that he asked of them?

"I am awarding that rank to our newest recruit. You will now address her as Paladin Nora- and I can assure you, despite her quick recruitment, she has well earned this promotion. She assisted in both the apprehension, and execution of M7-97. I see a bright future for the Brotherhood with her at our side."

There was even more cheering as Nora stood up from where she had been seated out of sight nearby- allowing the crowd to look her over and congratulate her.

Allowing the crowd to refer to her by her new rank already.

Paladin Nora.

...

There were more rocks rolling around in her gut now.

Maxson couldn't have called for a dismiss soon enough.

Haylen was the first one out of the room and she found herself practically running back out onto the flight deck. Just looking at the dark-haired woman standing before the crowd nearly made her lose all sense of self-control.

What she wouldn't have given to call Nora out right then and there.

But she wasn't stupid.

Showing any sense of support for Danse was like holding up a giant 'I support the Institute' sign.

Haylen felt the bitter cold breeze against her cheeks as she made her way down the narrow walkway and headed towards her parked Vertibird. She needed to get back to the Cambridge Police Station as soon as possible anyways- to give Rhys an update on the situation. The man had decided to stay behind with the rest of their unit to keep the station on lockdown; they had been getting harassed by Raiders on and off for the past few days, so she wasn't surprised by his decision to stay back. She had only opted to go to the Pyrdwen in faint hopes that... maybe something good had happened, that maybe Danse had been able to strike up a deal of some sorts with Maxson.

She knew she would only get hurt from showing up, and yet, she did it anyways.

... She guessed some part of her just wanted to know for certain- she had to know.

And while any sense of closure she might've gotten from it was bittersweet, she still felt raw and cut open on the inside.

Climbing into her Vertibird, Haylen tried to start up the engine, but found her fingers far too stiff and shaky to do so; it was like she couldn't unfold them after having them clenched for so long.

The numbing pain in her joints only added to her frustration, and before she knew it, she could feel the hot, angry tears rolling down her cheeks.

...

It wasn't fair.

After everything Danse had done, after everything he had sacrificed...

It didn't have to end like this.

Haylen's own little pity party didn't last long as she heard someone climb into the passenger seat next to her; she hastily tried to wipe away at her wet cheeks in a failed attempt to hide them. She wasn't sure how she was going to explain this... situation, but she figured she was always good with bullshitting on the spot.

"Just fly us somewhere- preferably isolated."

She felt her body turn stiff at the voice, before she turned to look at the woman who was seated next to her- looking every bit as uncomfortable with the arrangement as she was. And Haylen wondered how she had managed to escape the crowd so quickly. Wouldn't she have wanted to stand around and listen to everyone praise her for such a great job?

"What the hell do you want?" Haylen muttered through clenched teeth, knowing well she couldn't say exactly what she wanted to. She still had Proctor Quinlan on her ass about having talked back to Nora the day before- when she was only a Knight.

"I need to talk to you," Nora insisted, glancing out the side of the Vertibird, as though expecting someone to be following her, "- preferably now, please."

...

The last thing Haylen wanted was to be stuck in the air with this woman, but she didn't have much of a choice.

Something about the desperate edge in Nora's voice just... didn't settle with her either.

Finally starting the engine, Haylen signaled to the flight deck crew that she was taking off, and held tight to the controls as the Prydwen slowly released her Vertibird. She ran through the protocol and made sure she had the wings extended and the propellers going before the mechanical arm detached from them- leaving them on their own.

Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as Nora held nervously to her seat, and took some delight in knowing that the woman didn't seem to like the process of detachment. Not that many people in the Brotherhood did- but they all just got used to the five seconds of free fall before the propellers caught on.

In the back of her mind, the only silver lining Haylen could find in this situation was that she had the option to crash the Vertibird at any time- hopefully killing the two of them in a mistaken accident.

It was a spiteful thought, but... it would keep her sane for now.

...

Paladin Nora requested privacy, so Haylen couldn't make a direct fly back to the police station.

Her second best place was the rooftop of the old Geenetech Genetics building. While it wasn't the safest of places, it was well out of sight, and out of radio range of any of the Brotherhood patrols in the area. It was as good as it was going to get in terms of privacy.

Landing was a little tricky, but not something that was out of her level of expertise.

She still landed a little rough just to get a reaction out of the new Paladin.

"Now what do you want?" Haylen pressed, as she cut the Vertibird's engine. "Are you here to tell me that you listened to Danse's side of the story and decided that he still wasn't good enough to live? That despite everything he did for you, you decided the best way to pay him back was to put a bullet in his head?"

Despite Nora's stone-faced look, she flinched at her heavy words.

And Haylen hoped that they hurt the woman as much as they hurt her.

"Maxson's lying."

A brief scoffing sound came from Haylen's throat at the words. "What kind of fucking game are you trying to play here?" she muttered, as she looked out across the rooftops around them- trying to find a distraction in the broken skyline. "Elder Maxson doesn't lie- there are no secrets in the Brotherhood."

Christ, she sounded like a goddamn, broken record, but she was not going to be lied to.

She was not going to have this woman try to convince her of something that wasn't true. And she... she sure as hell wasn't going to put herself into a position of getting hurt- not again.

"Well there's one now," Nora insisted. "Danse isn't dead."

Haylen's breath got caught in her throat once more at the words, before she turned to meet Nora's eyes; her expression continued to be unmoving, which meant that there might've been a possible chance that she wasn't lying... She had a short amount of time to get to know Nora, and in running those few op missions, she found the woman to be rather blunt.

She never found a reason not to trust Nora- not to take her word on things, especially since Danse was mentoring her. And especially since she had gone out of her way to save their asses back at the police station the first time they had crossed paths.

... But if Nora wasn't lying...

"But how?" Haylen pressed, trying to keep her voice from shaking at the smallest of possibilities. "Maxson had his holotags, and he said you-"

"I spoke with Danse like you asked, and I convinced him that killing him wasn't the right option," Nora spoke, before she gave off a sort of nervous, yet relieved kind of laugh; one hand rubbing the back of her neck. "I couldn't believe it, you know? Danse was damn well prepared for me to kill him- even prepared to kill himself if I refused; he wanted to die, and... I had to talk him down, tell him there was nothing he needed to run from. We worked it out, and he gave me his holotags to pass on to Maxson so I could 'prove' that I had killed him."

...

Haylen wanted to believe her- she did, more than anything.

Nora's story sounded solid, it sounded believable, and her nervous twitches debunked the possibility of the story being rehearsed. And Haylen would've like to believe that Nora did the only right thing in that given situation, but...

Haylen said nothing as she pushed herself out of the Vertibird, and onto the uneven rooftop. Part of her felt like she was going to throw up out of sheer relief; her head was spinning at the influx of new information, and she found herself suddenly weak in the knees. But she couldn't let herself focus on it- couldn't let herself be blinded by the prospect- the unproven prospect.

And just as she figured, she heard Nora get out of the Vertibird soon after, and heard the woman follow after her.

The Vertibird was shut off, which had cut the radio clean as well... but Haylen didn't want to risk the rest of their conversation still getting leaked somehow.

"If what you're saying is true, and I... God I hope it is, how can I know for certain?" Haylen pressed. "I want to take your word, believe me, but things like this just don't slip past Maxson."

"See, that's the interesting part..." Nora started, as she set her hands on her hips, before she moved to cross her arms instead. "Maxson does know."

... No.

No, that couldn't be.

Maxson wouldn't stand in front of the Brotherhood, in front of his own brothers and sisters, and announce a lie. That wasn't possible for him to do- it was out of character, it defiled everything that an Elder was supposed to be.

"Maxson followed me to the bunker to ensure that I went through with his order," Nora continued, perhaps picking up on her disbelief. "He, unfortunately, ended up catching us as we were trying to leave. And when he found out that I had refused to kill Danse, he got angry and threatened to kill Danse himself."

To say that Haylen was enthralled in this elaborate lie, or painfully truthful story, was an understatement.

The story of a rogue synth turned Paladin, a two-hundred year old woman, and a man too young for the position he was in... Who the hell could write something like that? Let alone know how to end it.

"... What happened?" Haylen pressed once more.

"I told Maxson that he was more than welcomed to pull the trigger, but that he'd have to go through me first," Nora answered. "And that he damn well knew that if he so much as aimed a gun at me... well, only one of us would be going back to the Pyrdwen- and it wasn't going to be him. So, we ended up brokering a deal. Maxson let Danse go free, but under the conditions that he never try to contact the Brotherhood, and that he stay out of their way. And if he couldn't abide by those rules, then any and all units would be ordered to fire at him upon sight."

Haylen flinched at the proposed deal.

It was a relief to know that Danse had gotten away with his life, but... the Brotherhood was his life.

He never talked about anything else.

So, without the Brotherhood, what else would there be for him out there?

"What exactly is Maxson's plan if someone on patrol recognizes him out in the Commonwealth?" Haylen asked.

Nora offered her a brief shrug and dropped her hands back to her hips. "I don't know, he rambled off something about the Institute making multiple synths of the same person for infiltration or something. I didn't stick around to argue with him any further, and tried to get him out of there as soon as possible. All I can tell you is that, as of right now, Maxson and I have each other in the our own pockets. If someone were to find out the truth about this whole thing, well... we would both go down with the ship. It comes back to me because I didn't kill Danse, but it also comes back to Maxson for not doing the job properly himself. I mean, he took my word enough that he gave me a promotion, a new suit of power armor, and my own room on the Prydwen. He can't risk fucking that up, or else he drags his own title through the dirt."

...

If the risk of dropping to her knees might not potentially throw her off the side of the building, or through five stories worth of floors below... Haylen might've done it out of sheer relief. It felt like she was going to be physically sick as all the stress from before now seemed useless- although it had well rotted in the pit of her stomach. She knitted her hands over the back of her neck and took several long breaths before it felt like she could bypass the urge to throw up long enough to speak again. "I... thank you," she whispered.

"No need to," Nora assured, before she moved one hand to squeeze Haylen's shoulder. "I had to put on a show with you earlier since there were too many people watching, but... just know that I never had any intentions of hurting Danse."

"Why exactly?" Haylen questioned. "I mean, not to sound ungrateful, but... with how the Brotherhood acts, with how the people of the Commonwealth act... Everyone hates the Synths. Everyone wants them dead-"

"Not everyone," Nora interrupted, "not, say... the Railroad."

Haylen paused at the answer- taking note of how the woman went out of her way to enunciate the term. The Brotherhood was familiar with the Railroad, and had regarded them as their enemy early on, simply because of their sympathies towards Synths. Honestly, she never saw the purpose in the feud. It was obvious the Railroad was in no way equipped to take on the Brotherhood, so why bother wasting energy chasing them down?

...

And if all of the Synths that they were saving, if they were in any way like Danse... then what was the harm in their operations?

"Do you think you could drop me off near Greygarden before you head back to the police station? I need to do some cleaning up in that area."

It was an... odd request, and a random one at that, but Haylen was fully aware of the Paladin's involvement with the Minutemen of the Commonwealth; they were always around working on their settlements and trying to keep the areas safe and clean. She had run into a few of their patrol units while doing some of her own op runs, and... the Minutemen were strangely always nice and pleasant to speak to- and always willing to give directions.

"Yeah- sure thing," Haylen nodded, as she started back to the Vertibird, before she stopped and turned back to the Paladin. "Is he... is Danse still at that bunker I sent you to?"

"For now," Nora replied. "I think he's going to stay there until the issue blows over. The bunker's secured, and we reprogrammed the surface terminal with an access code that can't be hacked, so he's got full control from the bunker. The only way to get in is if he lets you in- and you gotta talk to him ahead of time so he knows it's not a set up. Plus, you said that the two of you were the only ones who knew about that place- and I don't see Maxson sending any units into that direction; he won't play that kind of risk. So, for now, he's the most secured man on this half of the Commonwealth."

It was reassuring to hear that Danse was taken care of, but... it didn't completely settle the weight in her chest.

"I would still give it a few days, at least a week or two, before you go over there," Nora continued. "He's uh... he's having to work out a lot of things right now, and he's gonna need some time."

"I can't wait a few days," Haylen spoke, "I've been under the impression that he was dead this entire time. I... I just need to see him for myself, to see that he's alive and..." she couldn't even finish her sentence without her voice threatening to give away.

Nora didn't say anything at first, but her face seemed to say it all. "I understand..." she nodded, before she offered a brief smile. "He was worried about you too, you know- worried that you were going to get yourself into trouble over him."

"Yeah well... I guess he was right to worry."

"You sure you want to take this OP on by yourself?"

Haylen smiled lightly at the question; her fingers busy with pulling her hair back into its usual tail, before she quickly pulled her hood over it. She even took the time to ensure that each red strand was tucked inside. "Oh come on, Rhys, I'm not an Initiate anymore; I can handle myself- you trained me after all."

"I know, but I've looked at your maps, and that's a long trek to make by yourself," the man insisted, as he rolled up the maps she had sprawled across the table between them; his heavy hands making quick work of the thin paper. "And after everything with Danse... I just want to make sure you don't fuck up on something; we can't afford to lose anyone else on the team."

She felt her smile falter slightly at the words.

She knew Rhys was trying to be... considerate about the situation, but he wasn't going to let his emotions show. He cared about Danse just as much as she did, but as far as he was concerned, the matter was behind them now; he couldn't risk something derailing their operation here.

...

He never was good with emotions.

"Exactly, we're short on men, and short on technology- and everyone else has their hands tied with Liberty Prime right now," Haylen replied, as she picked up her bag from the floor and hoisted it onto her shoulders. "It'll be a quick OP- just a few days, in and out. I'm having one of the birds drop me off at the Poseidon Energy building, and from there it'll be a quick walk to Med-Tek Research. I've got a few readings on some goodies out there, and I'd like to get my hands on them first. Plus, if it turns out to be a formidable place, it could prove worthy in training some of the Squires."

Rhys wrinkled his nose at her, but gave no further argument. "Fine. Just don't let your guard down out there," he muttered, as he handed her the rolled up maps. "I can't risk losing you too."

She smiled at what could've been meaningful words, as she grabbed the maps and stuffed them into the side of her bag.

"Don't you worry about me, Rhys; I'll be back before you even have a chance to miss me."

"Ad Victorium, sister!"

Haylen smiled and gave the pilot a brief wave as the Vertibird pulled away. "Ad Victorium, brother," she muttered, less enthusiastically under her breath, before she turned away and started on her trek.

It would take her a few hours to get anywhere from the Poseidon Energy building, but... it was safer this way. She knew about the Super Mutants that herded around and patrolled the Med-Tek area, which was why she didn't request a Vertibird landing anywhere near that direct location. They might've had an air advantage over most things in the Commonwealth, but that didn't mean someone, or something, couldn't shoot them out of the sky still.

Besides, it didn't hurt to walk every now and again.

It reminded her of her scavenging days before the Brotherhood.

... It was stupid to think that, with the security and strength the Brotherhood gave her, Haylen found herself missing those days. She missed the open freedom to do what she wanted- to help who she wanted.

Haylen followed the nearby coastline first; she figured she was too limited on daylight to really get anywhere- and since she was traveling by herself, she didn't want to risk a night exploration. Even now, she was still surprised that Rhys had let her go on her own. Not that he was the most protective of people, but... he wasn't stupid; she was kind of impressed that he didn't see through her plan.

...

There was supposedly a boathouse along the coast that she could use; Nora told her to camp there for the night if she needed to. It was well-defended and well-fortified- and the best part, no one was there. At least, not yet anyways.

It must've been another one of Nora's Minutemen projects.

... So, she spent the night in a boathouse, listening to the faint buzzing of the bloodbugs in the distance.

It was cozier than she was expecting, and Haylen found herself wondering if this was the kind of stuff that Nora and her Minutemen intended to do across the Commonwealth. She didn't know much about the organization- only what she had heard in passing, and maybe eavesdropped from Nora when she was on the radio.

Because when the woman wasn't busy being Paladin, she was a General, right? Quite the promotion.

And if this is how her organization planned to help the Commonwealth, by setting up safe and fortified settlements for people lost in this world, then... why did Nora even bother with the Brotherhood? It wasn't like their idea of helping the Commonwealth was half this noble. All they wanted to do was horde technology and shoot people who didn't belong here.

Sure, less Super Mutants and less feral ghouls made it easier to sleep at night, but... at what cost?

...

Haylen didn't think she spent as much time sleeping as she did just lying there- thinking. Wondering what exactly it was that she planned to do from this point. She wanted to see Danse- she needed to see that he was alive and well, but... then what?

Danse might not even want to see her.

He might not even be in a stable state of mind.

... But she needed to know.

Hopefully he would forgive her for that much.

...

Haylen was up and gone by the time the sun came up.

She bypassed the Med-Tek Research building three hours later- and went well out of her way to avoid suspicion from the dwelling Super Mutants. The stench of the place, even from a distance, was overwhelming. Even if she did come back for the tech inside, she wasn't sure if she'd be able to make it past the smell.

And God forbid she'd allow the Squires to get anywhere close to this place.

Still, she made sure to toss her bag, with her radio in it, close by the building. It was a small safety net just in case someone tried to track her through the frequency; for all they'd know, they would find her exactly where she said she'd be. And it would make sense, with Super Mutants in the area, for her to be on radio silence for most of her trip.

...

She made it to Listening Post Bravo barely four hours after that.

And she spent nearly half an hour just sitting outside- not sure what to do, or where else to go from here.

But she eventually convinced herself that she didn't come all this way for nothing; she didn't make a damn fool of herself in front of Proctor Quinlan for nothing.

Taking a deep breath, Haylen walked inside of the small bunker and looked around at the wreckage of the lobby. The place had seen better days for sure, but... nothing a little loving touch couldn't fix- maybe. If anything, it seemed like it had been bypassed by looters- so maybe she'd find something good in here after all.

But that wasn't her plan here- focus Haylen.

Her eyes were drawn to the nearby terminal, the only working thing in the lobby, and Haylen recalled back on the conversation she had had with Nora nearly a week prior.

"- we reprogrammed the surface terminal with an access code that can't be hacked, so he's got full control from the bunker."

With an incognito call that had been made days prior, Haylen moved slowly towards the computer, and briefly tapped her fingers against the dusty keyboard- watching as the green screen lit up, and awaited a password.

Her fingers carefully moved across the keyboard as she inputted the awaited code, and directed power back to the elevator; she heard it briefly ding behind her in confirmation.

"The password is: United We Stand- hey, don't laugh at it!"

Haylen waited as the elevator rattled its way up to the lobby, before the rustic doors finally opened- welcoming her into the small, white cube. She felt nervous just stepping inside of it- and even more so as she hit the button that would take her to the lower floor.

That would hopefully take her to Danse.

...

Her stomach was in knots the entire ride down.

Her fingers fiddled with the straps on her vest- afraid that if she didn't keep them preoccupied, she might try to claw her way back to the lobby.

When the elevator finally came to a short, jolted stop, Haylen thought she was going to throw up.

And then the doors opened, and she found herself stepping into the underground bunker on shaking legs that attempted to buckle at the knees.

"... Haylen?"